US Secretary of State slams Western Europe for underfunding defence, calls for greater contribution

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Western European nations for underinvesting in their national security, emphasizing that the United States cannot continue to subsidize their defence.

In an interview with US media on February 26, Rubio stated, “These are rich countries, especially in Western Europe, they have plenty of money, they should be investing that in their national security and they're not,” Caliber.Az reports.

He pointed out that some NATO allies spend as little as 1 per cent of their GDP on defence, calling this “unfair” and “unsustainable” for the US, which bears a disproportionate share of the burden.

“NATO is not in jeopardy. The only thing that puts NATO in jeopardy is the fact that we have NATO allies who barely have militaries or whose militaries are not very capable because they've spent 40 years not spending any money on it,” Rubio said. He stressed that the US is not asking its allies to act independently, but to contribute more to their own defence.

“It's their continent, right? Why should we not be, why is it unreasonable for the United States to ask rich European countries to invest more money in their own national security?” he added.

Rubio also provided an update on the ongoing minerals deal between the US and Ukraine, noting that it is “very close to the finish line.” He called the deal, which requires Ukraine to cede half of its revenues from minerals, gas, and oil infrastructure, a “good” and “important” agreement. He emphasized the Trump administration’s commitment to ending the war in Ukraine, stating, "We still want to end this war. That's the important thing the president has made very clear, he campaigned on it."

Regarding Russia, Rubio acknowledged uncertainty about the sincerity of Moscow’s intentions but reiterated the US position: “We told them do you want to end the war or continue? If you want to end the war, we can talk about what it would take to end it from their perspective. If you want to continue on the war, tell us now.”

On Taiwan, Rubio reaffirmed the US stance, saying, “We are against any forced, compelled, coercive change in the status of Taiwan. That's been our position since the late 1970s.”

By Vafa Guliyeva